General Information

Gaston MS

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    Our Mission:

    Develop and empower compassionate and determined independent thinkers with the academic, character, and social-emotional skills necessary to propel themselves on a pathway towards college, career, and military readiness. 

    Our Vision: 

    W.H. Gaston Middle School seeks to be the premier middle school in East ¹û¶³´«Ã½app. 

    Core Values:

    Respect, responsibility, high expectations, integrity, kindness, and resilience. 

     

     

    General Information

    W. H. Gaston Middle School is located in East ¹û¶³´«Ã½app at 9565 Mercer Drive and serves about 1000 students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.
     
    Students at Gaston have received some of the highest STAAR scores in the district, and the school is rated academically acceptable. The school's staff is extremely proud of the academic gains students have made in the last three years and the school continues to be recognized for its academic and extracurricular activities.
     
    Gaston Middle School promotes the arts by offering band, orchestra, drama, and art. Each student is encouraged to participate in sports, fine arts, and academic competitions.
      

    Quick Facts

    • Principal: C.Roberson
    • Grade Levels: 6-8

    Uniform Policy: 2024-2025

    Tops:

      • 6th - Navy Blue
      • 7th - Gold (Not Yellow) 
      • 8th - Black

    Bottoms: Khaki, Black or Navy

    Backpack: Clear or Mesh backpack, required per DISD 

    Mascot: Panther

    School Network:
    Northeast Secondary Learning Network

    Executive Director: Ryan Bott

    Trustee District 3

    School Board Member: Dan Micciche

    Who Was William Henry Gaston?

    https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fga63

    GASTON, WILLIAM HENRY (1840–1927). William H. Gaston, a founder of ¹û¶³´«Ã½app, was born on October 25, 1840, near Prairie Bluff, Alabama, the son of Robert Kilpatrick and Letitia (Suddeth) Gaston. He and his family moved to Mississippi and then to Plentitude, Texas, in 1849. His father farmed extensive landholdings in that region and served two terms in the Texas legislature. William, along with his brothers Robert and George, attended the nearby Mound Prairie Institute. All three later served in the Confederate Army. The family was en route to ¹û¶³´«Ã½app in 1861 when an outbreak of typhoid fever caused them to stay temporarily near Mount Sylvan in Smith County. From there Gaston left to join a volunteer company being recruited in Anderson County for Confederate service. By October 1861 he had been elected captain, and his company became part of the First Texas Infantry regiment of , Army of Northern Virginia.

    Gaston commanded his company with distinction through the terrible battles in Virginia in 1862. After recovering from typhoid fever, he was detailed to Texas on recruiting duty for the regiment. While on leave he married a former schoolmate, Laura Furlow. He was subsequently reassigned to serve as Confederate purchasing agent in the Trans-Mississippi Department, where he spent the remainder of the war.

    After Gaston was discharged in June 1865 he returned to Anderson County and farmed. His wife died in 1867, and a year later he married her sister Ione. After a successful cotton crop, they moved to ¹û¶³´«Ã½app with $20,000 in gold. Sources disagree about the source of the gold. Some of it came from cotton; some may have come from Gaston's days as a purchasing agent. Gaston entered into partnership with Aaron C. Camp, and they opened the Gaston and Camp Bank of ¹û¶³´«Ã½app, the first permanent bank in ¹û¶³´«Ã½app. Within a short time Gaston had expanded into real estate, merchandising, and general speculation; the bank became the Exchange Bank and later the First National Bank of ¹û¶³´«Ã½app. Only five years after his arrival the ¹û¶³´«Ã½app Herald (see ) declared that William Gaston was most responsible for the transformation of ¹û¶³´«Ã½app into a city. He was reported to be one of the city's first millionaires, and another of his banks, Gaston and Gaston Bank, was the predecessor of the Republic National Bank. A ¹û¶³´«Ã½app Thoroughfare bears his name.

    In 1886 Gaston donated eighty acres for the grounds. He and his wife raised three sons and two daughters. He died on January 24, 1927, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, ¹û¶³´«Ã½app.

    BIBLIOGRAPHY: 
    ¹û¶³´«Ã½app Morning News, January 25, 1927. ¹û¶³´«Ã½app Times Herald, January 25, 1927. Robert W. Glover, ed., Tyler to Sharpsburg: The War Letters of Robert H. and William H. Gaston (Waco: Texian Press, 1960). Ralph W. Widener, Jr., William Henry Gaston, A Builder of ¹û¶³´«Ã½app (¹û¶³´«Ã½app: Historical Publishing, 1977).